[TN-Bird] Sandhill Cranes and a Whooping Crane 12/29/07

My wife and I visited the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge yesterday afternoon.  =
When we arrived in the early afternoon (around 2 p.m.), the people on =
the observation deck appeared to almost outnumber the cranes.  There was =
some discussion on the observation deck about the cranes running out of =
corn and having already left the area.  One older gentleman suggested =
that more cranes and possibly a whooper may arrive later in the =
afternoon closer to sunset.  He was right, sometime after 4 p.m. several =
sandhills and one whooping crane arrived.  Before sunset, there were at =
least 300 cranes and possibly up to 500 or more.  It was really hard to =
estimate.  The folks on the observation deck that lived in the area =
suggested that we should visit before Christmas next year, even closer =
to Thanksgiving.

One man reported having seen the Operation Migration folks fly in with =
their ultralights earlier in the day.  We saw the truck with Operation =
Migration markings drive by, presumably to check on the Whooping Cranes =
kept in a pen over the hill from the observation deck.  There were =
several ducks and other birds of interest also.  The Snow Geese flew in =
with a group of Sandhills later in the day.  I am pretty confident that  =
at least three of the white geese were Ross and not Snow.  Maybe someone =
else can verify.

Overall it was a very nice afternoon, good weather and good birds.

Happy New Year everyone.
Michael


Our list for the day included:

Northern Shoveler (1)
Sandhill Crane (300)
Red Tail Hawk (2)
Double Crested Cormorant (1)
Carolina Chickadee (1)
Tufted Titmouse (2)
Bald Eagle Imm. (2)
Mallard (20)
Blue Jay (1)
Great Blue Heron (2)
Green-Winged Teal (2)
Ring-necked Duck (3)
Snow-goose (5), White and Dark morph present
Ross-goose (3),  Probable identification
Whooping Crane (1),  Red tag on left leg and Green/White tag on right =
leg
Canada Goose (50)
Carolina Wren (1)
Song Sparrow (3)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)
Mocking bird (1)
Gadwall (10)

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